CONIFERS FOR ECONOMIC PLANTING. 



49 



book I find that the average annual rate of growth of twenty- 

 six specimens, growing under dissimilar conditions, is 22 inches, 

 but even this is greatly exceeded by young trees in the nursery 

 border. The quality of timber produced in this country is such 

 as to warrant me in speaking highly of it, and as the specimens 

 experimented with were only of thirty years' growth, better 

 results may be expected from more fully matured wood. 



(8) The Norway Spruce {Abies excelsa). — The value of the 

 Norway or common Spruce in economic planting is already 

 well known, fully matured timber having been largely cut up 

 and converted for not a few general estate purposes. Though not 

 equal to either the Larch or Silver Fir in lasting qualities, the 

 wood of the Spruce is yet sufficiently lasting to cause it to have 

 been largely employed in fencing and in the erection of temporary 

 sheds. One great point in favour of the tree is that it will grow 

 w^here many others would fail, while it grows rapidly and affords 

 a great amount of shelter. 



(9) The Austrian Pine {Pinus austriaca), where shelter is a 

 point of first moment, stands unrivalled by any other tree of my 

 acquaintance. Of fairly good quality, too, is the timber ; but 

 it is generally rough, knotty, and hard to work. The tree 

 inclines more to spend its energy in the formation of many 

 weighty side-branches than in the building up of a clean and 

 gradually tapering stem, and I have found that even by growing 

 the tree thickly together the knotty side-branches are hard to 

 remove. The Austrian Pine grows well on almost any class of soil, 

 and bears exposure to rough winds, as I have more than once 

 proved on the Welsh hillsides. Several large trunks I had cut 

 up for the express purpose of testing the quality of the timber 

 turned out well, the planks being remarkably resinous, of a dirty 

 yellow colour, and rather hard to work. It stands the changes 

 from wet to dry as well as any British timber I know, and the 

 experiments I undertook on the Ogwen Eiver nine years ago 

 were perfectly satisfactory. 



(10) The Cluster or Maritime Pine (P. Pinaster). — So far as 

 the value of the timber of this Pine is concerned the tree might 

 be described as almost valueless for economic planting. That it 

 will thrive well and produce fine bushy specimens where few 

 other trees could succeed has been well exemplified along the 

 Mediterranean coast, as well, indeed, as in not a few maritime 



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